Michael Kelbaugh
Michael Kelbaugh is the current president of Retro Studios in Austin, Texas. Prior to this he worked at Nintendo of America in Redmond, Washington. He has been involved overseeing the development of titles at Retro Studios at a producer role. History Before working in the video game industry, Kelbaugh served as a communication manager on the US Navy's Special Warfare Command between 1983 and 1988. In December 1988, he joined Nintendo of America as a playtester. The first game Kelbaugh is credited as working on is Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge, which he provided voice samples for. Following this he would work on many classic franchises including the Donkey Kong Country and Golden Sun series where he playtested and debugged titles. Gradually, he became a director of NOA's Business Development Group. In April 11, 2003, NOA sent Kelbaugh to Retro Studios to become the president, succeding Steve Barcia, who was the president after Jeff Spangenberg was fired. Many employees threatened to quit the company because of this move, but Kelbaugh insisted that they wait a few weeks just to see, and if they still weren't satisfied, to leave. By the end of the few weeks, not a single employee left. Ever since, Kelbaugh has overseen the development of various titles at Retro Studios, mostly on the Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country series. Game Credits * ''Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge'' (1993) - Vocal Talent * ''EarthBound'' (1994) - NOA Debug Coordinator * ''Kirby's Avalanche'' (1995) - Voice Talent * ''Donkey Kong Land'' (1995) - Nintendo Testing * ''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' (1995) - Nintendo Product Testing * ''Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run'' (1996) - Nintendo Product Testing * [[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!|''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!]] (1996) - Nintendo Product Testing * [[Killer Instinct Gold|''Killer Instinct Gold]] (1996) - Quality Assurance NOA * ''Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire'' (1996) - Nintendo of America Inc. * ''Cruis'n USA'' (1996) - Nintendo Product Testing * ''Blast Corps'' (1997) - Voices, NOA Product Testing * ''Tetrisphere'' (1997) - Product Tester * ''GoldenEye 007'' (1997) - NOA Testing * ''Donkey Kong Land III'' (1997) - Testing NOA * ''Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside'' (1998) - Product Testing Staff * [[Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr.|''Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr.]] (1998) - Product Testing (Nintendo) * [[Banjo-Kazooie|''Banjo-Kazooie]] (1998) - NOA Tester (credited as "NOA Free Player") * ''Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Slugfest'' (Nintendo 64) (1999) - NOA Product Testing * ''Star Wars Episode I: Racer'' (N64) (1999) - NOA Tester * ''Command & Conquer'' (1999) - NOA Product Testing Staff * ''Conker's Pocket Tales'' (1999) - Tester * ''The New Tetris'' (1999) - NOA Product Testing * ''Bionic Commando: Elite Forces'' (2000) - Testing * ''Ridge Racer 64'' (2000) - Testing Team * ''Excitebike 64'' (2000) - Product Testing * ''Perfect Dark'' (2000) - Testing (NOA), Nintendo * ''StarCraft 64'' (2000) - Tester * ''Crystalis'' (GBC) (2000) - Testing * ''Warlocked'' (2000) - Testing * ''Perfect Dark'' (GBC) (2000) - NOA Staff * ''Paper Mario'' (2000) - NOA Product Testing Department * ''Pokémon Puzzle League'' (2000) - Testing Director * ''Alice in Wonderland'' (2000) - Product Testing Director * ''Donkey Kong Country'' (GBC) (2000) - NOA Staff * ''Banjo-Tooie'' (2000) - Nintendo Product Testing * ''Mario Party 3'' (2000) - Testing and Debug * ''Pokémon Stadium 2'' (2000) - Product Testing * ''Pocket Soccer'' (2001) - NOA Product Testing * ''F-Zero: Maximum Velocity'' (2001) - Testing and Debug * ''Dr. Mario 64'' (2001) - Testing and Debug * ''Golden Sun'' (2001) - Testing & Debugging * ''Advance Wars'' (2001) - Testing and Debug * ''Wave Race: Blue Storm'' (2001) - NOA Product Testing * ''NBA Courtside 2002'' (2002) - Product Testing * ''Golden Sun: The Lost Age'' (2002) - NOA Product Testing * ''Mario Party 4'' (2002) - NOA Product Testing Staff * ''Metroid Prime'' (2002) - Testing Director * ''Nintendo Puzzle Collection'' (2003) - NOA Product Test Group (Panel de Pon) * ''Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising'' (2003) - NOA Product Testing * ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' (2004) - Senior Producer * ''Metroid Prime 3: Corruption'' (2007) - Executive Producer * ''New Play Control! Metroid Prime'' (2009) - Executive Producer * New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2009) - Executive Producer * ''Metroid Prime Trilogy'' (2009) - Executive Producer * ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'' (2010) - Executive Producer * ''Mario Kart 7'' (2011) - President (Retro Studios) * ''Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D'' (2013) - Support from Retro Studios (President) * ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze'' (2014) - Executive Producer * ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze'' (Switch) (2018) - Executive Producer Special Thanks * ''Wario's Woods'' (SNES) (1994) * ''Pilotwings 64'' (1996) * ''Winter Gold'' (1996) * ''Diddy Kong Racing'' (1997) * ''Cruis'n World'' (1998) * ''Jet Force Gemini'' (1999) * ''Donkey Kong 64'' (1999) * ''Mickey's Racing Adventure'' (1999) * ''Disney's The Little Mermaid II: Pinball Frenzy'' (2000) * ''Mickey's Speedway USA'' (2000) * ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'' (2001) * ''Mickey's Speedway USA'' (GBC) (2001) * ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' (2001) (NOA Debug Staff) * ''Star Fox Adventures'' (2002) * ''Donkey Kong Country'' (GBA) (2003) * ''Donkey Kong Country 2'' (GBA) (2004) Interviews * Metroid Prime Trilogy - Retro Studios Tour External Links * LinkedIn Profile Category:Nintendo people Category:Real people Category:Company Presidents Category:Retro Studios